Leonardo Maria del Vecchio is close to reaching an agreement to purchase the stakes of two of his siblings in family holding company Delfin, which controls EssilorLuxottica (EU:EL), according to comments he made to the Financial Times in an interview published Friday.
“We are close to agreeing a price,” Leonardo Maria del Vecchio told the FT, adding that he is negotiating to increase his ownership to 37.5%, effectively tripling his current holding.
The Luxembourg-based holding company Delfin is currently owned equally by the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, the creator of the Ray-Ban eyewear brand, who passed away in 2022.
“I have been very clear I am willing to buy their stakes in order to become Delfin’s main shareholder, close the outstanding issues around my father’s estate and execute my father’s will,” Leonardo Maria told the FT.
Disputes among the shareholders have so far blocked any dividend distribution exceeding 10% of net profit and have also prevented changes to the company’s governance structure.
Leonardo Maria said the potential deal would be organised as a leveraged buyout financed by a group of unnamed banks. He also stated that his priority would be to protect EssilorLuxottica and that he would either wait for a court ruling or reach an agreement with his siblings before then.
“I don’t intend to make a power move . . . I want to build trust after four years of disputes,” he said.
Beyond its controlling stake in EssilorLuxottica, Delfin also holds investments in Covivio, Banca Monte dei Paschi, Generali and UniCredit.
Delfin and EssilorLuxottica did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
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